7 Quick Takes

Quick-takin' it with Jen and friends.

1. I'm not quite sure why, but this week has gone by at a rapid pace. Believe me, I'm not complaining! Maybe it's because of the long Labor Day weekend? Or maybe it's because we've been busy every night this week. Definitely been fun!

2. Tuesday was our 2nd wedding anniversary.  I made a roast in the crock pot and bought a slice of carrot cake from the store. (Brandon actually asked if I made it...then I pointed out that it was a center piece and I have no idea how I would have drawn such a perfect, cute little carrot on top)  We ate on the china we received from our wedding, exchanged small gifts (both had incorporated the traditional gift of cotton!), and then headed to a meeting for the young adult committee at church.

3. Do you have china? Do you ever use it? While registering for wedding gifts, I fell in love with our china pattern.  Being oh-so-practical, we had already decided we wouldn't register for something we wouldn't use. So, we received it from a very generous aunt and uncle of mine and now it's our intention of actually using our china for all birthdays, anniversarys, and holidays :) We do have to hand wash it, but it's so worth it--and also proudly displayed in our kitchen!

4. We had talked about taking a little weekend getaway somewhere for our anniversary, but it just seemed like a lot of work trying to figure out where we would go and if Silas would come with us or stay with someone...and then Brandon suggested we take a hot air balloon ride and I was like "um, heck-to-the-yes!" Definitely something I never imagined I'd be able to do and definitely an absolutely incredible experience!

5. Last week Ana included a little story of getting stung by a bee in her quick takes. It was in her hair. For days after, every time I felt the smallest tug of hair (and this seems to happen a lot when you have a four-month old) I was sure there must also be a bee in my hair. Talk about paranoid. 

But-I kid you not-I took out my hair from the nest on top of my head it lives in while I sleep each night, and what falls out but a dead bee!?  Oh my heavens it was so not funny. Until I realized it was dead. without wings. and then it was a little funny. As far as I know, I did not got stung. I'm really hoping it just happened to get in there while we were 4300 feet up or something? Maybe that's where bees go to die.

6. I've mentioned before how my house gets cleaned when I know people are coming over. We had friends over for dinner last night and the beginning of a young adult retreat is at our house tonight. So you know what I've been up to :)

7. This is my 50th post! Woohoo! It reminds me how much of a wee little one I still am when it comes to blogging. Kendra posted the following quote on her blog today and it explains a little bit why I even write on this here blog, so I thought I'd share:

Happy Friday, friends!

~Danielle

One more hand.

Sometimes Mondays are hecka hard.  And sometimes they're really swell.  Yesterday I got dealt a swell one.  Silas took a cat nap in the morning and was very pleasant when he was awake, cooing and chuckling and un-clingy. The only time he cried is when I took a sip of water while nursing him and it went down the wrong pipe and I spit water all over him and myself.  He wasn't really a fan of being spit up on, but neither am I really...oh, how the tables were turned.

We went to two different stores where he just looked around like a little sweetheart, allowing me to walk the aisles of Target for far too long, looking at plenty of things I'm sure I'll need for something someday.  In the afternoon he slept for 3 hours, allowing me to take a little catnap and get some things done around the house.  I feel like there are a bajillion things that need to get done after not being home for 9 days and so it was really nice to do like three of them without also holding a baby.

Do you see the glee emanating from this happy baby? What a blessed mom I am.

You know what I've been wondering?  If human bodies evolve over time based on what we need, why don't women of childbearing age grow a third or fourth arm?  How have we not evolved into octopii? I'd even be alright with an extra hand, really. Quite the visual--an armless hand just sticking out from some new place on the body. I'm not sure where it could go--maybe somewhere near the hip area so that you could use that one hand to balance the babe on your hip while using the other two hands to deal with life.  There really could be some sort of talent show just to show off what you can do while holding a baby, with extra points if the child cannot hold up their own upper body yet.  We have all of these reality TV performance-type shows...I definitely think that loading the dishwasher or making a bed or putting on pants while holding a child who is maybe crying or perhaps just dropped their pacifier or spit up on your shoulder takes the cake as far as talent is concerned. Momma's Got Talent.  and the judges would have to be grandmothers because they've "been there, done that" probably with at least 3 children, which obviously makes them the rockstars who know better than anyone else which momma's are really good at it and which could use a little more practice.  Seriously, though, have you ever tried to put pants on while holding a baby?  That is something designed for two hands. You either decide not to wear pants or leave the button undone. And by not wearing pants I mean put on a skirt, not walk around pantsless.

As you can tell I've been doing a lot of baby-holding, especially last week.  Which is probably why yesterday felt so glorious.  The boy slept during the day and it wasn't on my lap! He slept soundly and peacefully and like a little angel for 3 whole hours in his swing. I got my old Silas baby back! Yes, I was just a little bit excited because by now you understand that I've been doing a whole lotta baby holding in the last week of my life. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I dislike it...I'm just not so interested in training to be an Olymplic gold-medalist in it quite yet.  Not until I grow that extra hand.

~Danielle

So much new.

It is crazy for me to contemplate how drastically my life has changed in the last 6 months, and also how incredible positive each change has been.  This life makeover was not something I planned for or anticipated, but it has been so welcome and refreshing.


In the last six months I:
1. Moved to a new city in a new state where I knew less than 10 people total.
2. Lived truly alone for the first time in my life.
3. Was more bored than I ever remember feeling.  This was during the month period that I was unemployed.  While I did read a lot and decompress from my previous, very challenging job, I also realized the intensity of my love for human interaction and contact.  I am most definitely more of a people-oriented person than a task-oriented person and felt the ramifications of that during this month period.
4. Started two new jobs.
5. Worked my first ever retail job @ the Gap.
6. Landed a position in my all-time dream career at an incredibly forward-thinking, friendly school with many   opportunities.  
7. Began seeing a chiropractor.
8. Planned a wedding.
9. Got married to the love on my life, propelling my bliss even further into the atmosphere :)
10. Changed my name.
11. Tripled number of family members.
12. Moved in with a boy.
13. Traveled to a new continent and 2 new countries!
14. Ate escargot.
15. Paid off my car loan.
16. Made minestrone soup.

Wow.  What a crazy, beautiful few months it has been.  Even though it was quite the whirlwind, I love how it's settling in and look forward to finding new amid the comfort of each day.


Live with joy,

Danielle